“This is everything, right?"

Tom put his phone back in his pocket. “Yep. Just the monthly report."

“No letter from the company or anything else?" Max asked him.

“Nope, unless you want to meet your dreaded department supervisor again." He teased the large dog.

The shepherd shuddered.

“Or, you know, I could go with you to make sure you're safe." The wolf added.

Max then pulled him into his arm. “Next time, you're gonna be there when I'm asking for her signature."

Tom chuckled a bit nervously. Things were going smoothly. He was being subtle, of course, but Max replied positively to all his advances. With laughter, maybe, but it was a lot better than a blank stare or even a disgusted face.

The big dog didn't push him away, he kept embracing him as they walked towards the lecturer's room, even pulling him closer. Tom could only look away with a small blush on his face as he was being pulled even closer to the dog's solid mass.

“You sure Mr. Beck's still in his room? It's almost 21."

He really wanted to put his hand around the dog's waist and hug him back but it'd be weird. “Yeah. He's just texted me." Maybe he should settle for closeness for now. “Oh and he's got some snacks."

Max petted his head. “Good thing we got the same internship mentor, right?"

“I know right."

He had said some really, really sweet nothings before—so sweet he was sure they'd give him diabetes—but Max still bought it positively. The worst one was, “you're always going to be there for me, right?" to which the dog answered with a big grin, “of course I am".

It had only been a month, for fuck's sake, yet they seemed to have reached the very-close-but-not-quite-boyfriends stage. It was fine; he could now see things more clearly. He had realised that now he had something, someone worth fighting for.

However, he was still afraid. Things were sure going very smoothly now, but what if Max realised his intention all along and then decided to leave him? What if he decided to bully him? Or worse, think that he didn't exist?

And now that he was going to be in one of his episodes, he was going to be overly pessimistic. Great; good job, life. Now he wondered if he had a knife sharp enough in case Max decided to think he didn't exist. He looked at his left wrist; he couldn't have a repeat of that time.

Well, looking at the dog's easy smile and lazily waving tail, he seemed to be content enough.

As Octo said, time would tell.

When they arrived at Mr Beck's room, Tom knocked at the door softly. Max released his embrace, which made him sigh a little. Perhaps it was for the best since he was sure he looked somewhat flustered.

“Come in!"

They both entered the room. Mr Beck was at his desk with several piles of essays on it. “Sir," the wolf greeted him and nodded softly.

“Hey, you two." The deer chuckled a bit and beckoned them to come closer, taking his eyeglasses off. “Sorry, I got essays to review. Been too busy with graduation stuff so this got tossed aside. Come here, have a seat and sit down. Have some snacks."

“Thanks. You know you can just give 'em all an A and you'll be good to go." Max joked.

“Believe me, I'm tempted to do just that."

They all laughed.

Jonathan then turned to Tom. “So, you wanna submit your monthly intern report?"

“Oh yeah, here. Sorry for being two weeks late." The wolf opened his bag and gave him his report. “Your report, Max."

“Right, here."

“It's okay. Lemme take a quick look."

Mr Beck put his reading eyeglasses on and read Tom's report. “Wait, isn't last month your second month?"

“Um, I've been to the Natcom, while Max has had a match."

“Oh, right. So that makes last month your first one."

Max extended his hand to take a small pastry on the table, but Tom batted the hand away. He gave the wolf a quick grin and took one.

The wolf just rolled his eyes.

“So, Thomas," Jonathan started. “what's your job in the internship?"

“Well, my basic task is to be a helper. Replying to emails, inputting data, even watering the flowers." He chuckled. “Most of the time, I just reply to emails since last month's been a quiet one. But for the last week, I've been helping a workmate rebuild the customer repository."

“Did they assign you a specific task?"

“Yeah. I'm told to observe the interpersonal communication between the workers in this department. I already compiled a basic report as of now, but not really enough for a conclusion to be drawn."

Smiling proudly, Mr Beck put his report down. “Good, good. I'm pretty sure you're gonna complete your intern without a problem anyway so let's just skip the next questions. Nothing's bad happened last month, right?"

“Well, my boss was moved to a different department, and I have a new boss, though she's nothing to worry about. I also have a new workmate."

“Good, good. Now, Max," he picked the dog's report. “Same questions, what's your job in the internship?"

“Um…"

“Don't tell me you forgot your own job." The deer smiled at him.

“I just… input warehouse data."

“Data entry?"

“Yeah, that. Data entry."

Mr Beck grinned teasingly while Tom held back from giggling.

“You sure you're not going to your workplace while still asleep, Max?"

Tom laughed.

The dog's ears flattened. “Erm, no."

“Well," Jonathan continued. “I already know Volkesraten anyway. Are you placed in the customer service or in the supply chain?"

“Supply chain. Actually I was gonna be placed at customer service but another intern took the position, so I was placed in the supply chain."

Tom gave the dog's back a pat.

“Any specific task you got to do?"

Max shrugged. “Nothing major. Sometimes I'm told to help my boss handle restocking but nothing else."

“As expected, usually they just want extra muscle to help. Your senior did her intern there too, and when she was done she was confused about what to write on her report. But I'm sure you have something, right, Max?" Mr Beck took a pastry and munched it. “You can do like Tom and observe the communication patterns there, or if that needs too much data, just focus on something small like how the data is being processed."

“Yeah, I'm planning to do that. It turns out the data isn't done after I put it in, it needs to be verified by purchasing department and then—"

“Eep! Don't spoil your final report." Jonathan silenced him with a small smile.

Max chuckled. “Right."

“Actually the next question is pretty redundant, but well, last month you did what you're told to do, right? Just data entry."

“Yeah, just data entry."

“Did you experience any difficulty while working there?"

“No, not really."

“Okay then," The deer put the dog's report down, then took his eyeglasses off. “That's all. I'm just gonna ask about what you did last month on your next monthly report. If you want to help me with these essays, feel free to do so." He chuckled a little and took a brownie cake. “Extra brownies for you." The deer continued and ate it.

They three laughed.

Just when Tom was about to say something and take a pastry, the lights went out. He was surprised when everything turned dark, but he just went ahead and took a pastry and munched it. He reached for his phone and turned the torchlight on.

The lights turned on again, but it quickly went out again.

“Seems we have a power outage." He heard Mr Beck sighing.

Tom wanted to stand up and walk to the hallway, but a hand caught his arm.

“Don't leave me! Darkness will descend and consume me!" Max said with mock fear.

They three laughed again.

“Well, let's just go home. There's no way I can do this tonight." Jonathan said, turning on his own torchlight in his phone. “Pack your stuff."

Tom stood up, still with Max holding his arm. It seemed Max was really afraid, not just joking. He guided the dog to stand up as he held the wolf's shoulders.

“All done?"

He nodded. “Max, turn your phone torchlight on."

“Oh, right."

They walked towards the hallway and exited the room. Several other people passed by and joined them. The stairs were quite full, so they had to walk carefully. Fortunately, no one panicked. Their descent was smooth and no one pushed around.

Max was still holding his shoulder. Tom felt glad that he could be someone the dog could depend on.

“Power outages like this happen often, Mr. Beck?" Max asked.

“Not really. Last time I remember was two years ago."

Someone pushed his arm, but quickly uttered an apology.

“This could be huge." The wolf said.

When they were out of the building, they quickly joined the other people at the evacuation point. Tom looked around; apparently, there were still a lot of people in the Humanities faculty building at this time of night. Fortunately, no one was harmed.

He opened WhatsUp; his friends were wondering about the sudden outage, too. Power outages didn't happen often in the city, which made him a bit confused and concerned.

The wolf opened Chirper and found a chirp by the NEC stating that the power generator on the Western Harekin county had malfunctioned, rendering three whole provinces without electricity. The backup generators went out too so there was no backup electricity. As of now, they were still investigating the cause.

“This is big." He said and gave his phone to Jonathan and Max.

Max let out a sigh as he put his jacket on. “This is too big. How long is the ETA?"

“Not sure. They're still looking into the problem."

“Well, this would take a while." said Mr Beck. “Reckon I'll be going home now. I'm quite sure my kids are freaking out."

“Don't scare them with scary stories, sir." Tom joked.

“I'll try not to." The deer laughed as he put his coat on. “You two heading to the dorms?"

He looked at Max who was looking around. “I reckon so. Thanks ya, sir!"

“You're welcome."

Mr Beck then walked away, leaving the duo to themselves. Tom looked at Max, looking at his posture, he seemed to be anxious. His expression was cautious as he looked over the people there while his ears were low.

Was he... was he really afraid of the dark?

Tom grinned a bit. He then moved behind the dog's large frame and growled low.

That made Max tense up, looking behind him with his ears flattened. Tom moved away from his field of vision. When he was looking to his front again, Tom took hold of his tail and pulled it softly.

Max's tail went awry and smacked him on the face. He couldn't see the dog's reaction because his vision was full of brown fur. He could only laugh when he felt a hand gripping his arm.

“You little devil!"

Laughing, Tom tried to run away, but Max managed to catch the edge of his jacket. He tried to bat it away as he ran.

However, the dog caught his arm instead and pulled him. “Do that again and you'll be sending a sick letter to your office!"

Tom looked up and smiled innocently. The dog looked angry and his teeth bared, but his ears were up. He gave the wagging tail another soft tug and Max ruffled his head fur.

“I reckon it's going to be a bullied letter instead." He joked.

Max's expression softened, and he released the wolf. “Because you bullied me?"

“The other way around, twat. Anyway, let's go to the dorms."

They walked away from the building, still in the darkness. The wolf held his phone to light the way back to the dorm. There were still a lot of people, apparently. Well, two days from now was the graduation day, so there were many preparations to be done.

Mr Beck said he was one of the graduation committees, right? Probably he was busy with it. Octo said he received his toga yesterday, so maybe the deer had been there.

“Why does the blackout have to be so sudden?" Next to him, Max whined a little.

“Because it's a blackout?"

The dog sighed.

“How about we watch some films. We still planned to watch one, kan?" he offered, kind of hoping that the dog spent the night with him.

Max took his phone and typed something, then lowered it and directed it back at the path. “Right." He scratched his nape. “Can I stay the night at yours, too?"

The flowers inside him were blooming. “Sure can! Good thing I charged my laptop when I left earlier."

“Sometimes I feel like you're already one step ahead of everyone." Max flashed a smile at him.

Tom looked away. Mate, stop smiling. You're even more handsome when you smile.

Max ruffled his head fur affectionately again. He lost count how many times he did that today.

His dorm building was dark as the rest, but it was quieter here. Probably it was because most of the other students were already asleep. Martin said he tended to sleep at 22, except in the case of essays.

Several students were messing around in the front yard. Some of them complained about it being cold and dark. Right, the building's heater was now off.

“Right, Tom. Isn't it going to be cold?"

He smiled bashfully. “Just hold me close as your warmth."

The dog guffawed.

When they reached his dorm room, Max instantly took his jacket off and launched himself to his bed and covered himself with the blanket. The wolf just chuckled at him. He took his emergency lamp and turned it on, then put it on the nightstand.

Taking off his trousers, he adjusted his pants a bit, then unplugged his laptop and joined the dog in the bed.

“Wait, isn't the Wi-Fi out? How can we watch a movie with the Wi-Fi out?" Max said as he came out of the blanket and stood up, stretching a little.

“I downloaded some." Tom shrugged. “I prefer watching films offline."

“Wolf, you got some pants I can use? It's too cold to just wear boxers but my jeans aren't comfortable to sleep."

“Long pants? I have some, but I doubt I have one your size."

The dog took his trousers and shirt off, leaving him only wearing a t-shirt and pants, then opened the wardrobe to look for one he could use.

Tom looked away as his face turned red. The lighting perfectly intensified the bulge in the big dog's pants. To avoid filling his mind with dirty stuff, he turned his laptop on and looked for something they could watch.

“Yep! Found one!"

He glanced up a bit, just enough not to see that bulge again. “Oh right, that's Octo's. He left that when he helped me and Martin with homework a week ago."

“Thank you, Octo!" the dog joined him on the bed and lay down next to him. “So, what're we watching?"

Tom chuckled and settled himself next to the dog, not close enough so that their sides were touching but still close enough to feel the heat off and more strongly smell the scent of the other's body. Max always smelled amazing, even without deodorant. “Don't laugh at my bad taste for films."

Laughing softly, Max pulled the blankets to cover them and put the laptop between them, then settled down to watch.

He was familiar with the story, Tom thought. He already watched this several times. He held his bolster close. They'd been close enough for the day, now they needed some space.

The dog seemed immersed in the film until he didn't notice Tom repeatedly adjusted his position. At some scenes, he laughed. The wolf just smiled and let out some soft chuckles.

He was getting the hang of this. His heart was no longer beating uncontrollably with Max around. Now it was content, maybe there was still some space between them but it was enough for now.

Octo said he had to take it slow, so slow he went.

At the scene where the main character was “receiving a blessing" from his elders, Max shifted and caused their shoulders to bump. A jolt of electricity shot Tom's spine and quickly faded away.

He looked away in shame; if such simple, unintended touch could make him shudder like this, how could he advance to the next stage?

“It's getting even colder." Max said.

“Y-yeah."

“Lemme just…" the large dog trailed off, then shifted as he straightened his pose and adjusted the pillow on his head. “I'm gonna hold you close as my warmth." He put his hand around the wolf and pulled him close, making his face turn red, his ears flatten, and his heart beat rapidly again. The dog's scent was entering his nostrils, and it made him slightly dizzy. He smelled so good.

Max put the laptop on their thighs and continued watching. The dog didn't look at him, but he absent-mindedly caressed Tom's shoulder as the scene in the film became more mellow.

Tom was nervous.

However, he dared scoot closer to the dog, to the point they were basically snuggled against each other. To his credit, Max didn't react and just let him.

“No sexual stimuli intended?" Max then asked him with a chuckle when he adjusted his position.

Tom froze for a bit, but then shyly replied, “No sexual stimuli intended."

They stayed that way until the film ended. At first, Tom thought Max would push him away as he prepared to sleep. It was fine with him; he didn't want to make the dog uncomfortable. However, the big dog didn't say anything, only letting out a content sigh and asked him, “So, sleep?"

“Y-yeah…" he squeaked nervously. Why isn't Max doing anything?

“Uh… your laptop."

“Eh, right."

Tom turned his laptop off, then closed the lid and put it on the nightstand, trying not to move in fear Max would push him. However, the dog just chuckled and didn't let go. He adjusted the pillow and the blanket, then closed his eyes. “Night, Tom."

The wolf's eyes widened as his heart beat faster. He could only force himself to calm down and reply, “Night, Max."

Eventually, with Max by his side, he was able to sleep free of nightmares.

“Didn't think you'd arrive so soon, Mr Dark." He said as he closed the door behind him.

Mr Dark sat on the sofa and grinned at him. “You know I like entertainment, Mr Husky."

Letting out a chuckle, he walked to the dancing pole in front of him. He sensually ran his hand on its surface as he gazed at Mr Dark. “Tall dark and handsome wants some entertainment, eh? Perhaps if he asks nicely."

Gripping the edges of the sofa, Mr Dark put his right leg on top of his left one and smiled. “Entertain me."

He spun against the pole and gave the coyote a toothy smile. “As you wish."

The dance was familiar to him. He spun his body against the pole, occasionally flashing the coyote a grin. His tail swayed, waving through the air smoothly. Mr Dark let out a small sigh and leant forward.

Feeling bolder now, he caressed his abs and up to his pecs, looking at the one on the sofa a seductive grin. His fur bristled a little. Something in Mr Dark's trousers grew tight, and he just spun around and laughed. He was glad his abs served him well.

Mr Dark leant back on the chair again. He showed him his wide, muscled back and swayed his tail again. When he heard some shuffling sound, he knew the coyote was getting uncomfortable.

Well, he himself was getting comfortable.

He took his jeans off and spun around, presenting the coyote with tight pants which left really little to the imagination. He was flaccid, but he was sure Mr Dark could tell by the size of his bulge that he was packing a pretty powerful weapon there.

The coyote's tongue was out, and he laughed. “Getting comfortable, Mr Dark?"

“More than you know." He replied, not even taking his eyes off him.

When the coyote shifted on the sofa, he decided it was time to be more intimate.

He walked towards the coyote with a seductive grin as he caressed his abs. Mr Dark stared at him, a hungry look in his eyes. The coyote kept his hands to himself as he approached. He liked this side of the coyote; he never gave in to the lust, no matter how close it was.

Standing close to the coyote, he leant closer to him. Their snouts were mere centimetres from each other, yet no one closed that gap. He was basically breathing the other's breath.

“How far would you want our journey to be, Mr Dark?" he asked breathlessly.

The coyote held the armrests tightly. “As far as you would take me."

Their noses touched just for a bit, then they separated.

It was a bit hard for him to dance this close. He wasn't bulky, but he was adequately muscled, so his movements were held back a little. Yet it seemed the coyote didn't mind his loose moves. He was freer and more flexible with a pole, but this was closer, more intimate.

A few times, he let their noses touch, but nothing more than that. He only touched the coyote a few times on the shoulders and arms. While he was tempted to just kiss Mr Dark—and he was sure Mr Dark was too—this was not about that. This was about enjoyment.

Mr Dark was not bad looking, by any means. His posture was close to his own, lean, muscled, defined. He was handsome, too; who in their right mind wouldn't want to be with him? The coyote looked like a bad boy wanting to be pleased and wanting to be pleased he was.

He stood in front of him again, his arms holding the armrests just within reach of the coyote's hand. The husky heaved, this time a little tired from the dance. They both had their tongues out, the heat of the moment caught up with them. Mr Dark's mouth was there, so close, so kissable. Just lean forward a bit and their mouths would meet.

But he held back. If the coyote could hold back, why couldn't he? This bad boy was a force to be reckoned with, and he had to play his cards right if he were to please him.

The coyote put his hands on his sides softly, making him hold his shoulders. They stared into each other's eyes for a while, sensing the flames inside each other. It was raging, wanting to join with the other to become bigger and to consume them into its heat.

“You're eager, Mr Husky." The coyote said, almost whispered. “Are you pleasing me? Or is it I who's pleasing you?"

He laughed a little. “Why couldn't it be both?"

“Because there can only be one winner in the game, Mr Husky."

“And it looks like I'm winning."

“Tough chance." He said as he licked the side of his muzzle. “What proof do you have to be able to say that?"

The husky leant closer and closed his eyes. When their lips met, he too closed his eyes. The kiss was quick, a chaste one. Just two lips meeting each other. He would want it to last longer, but he knew he was stepping over thin ice by just doing this. One millisecond too late, and he should fall into the depths below.

Grinning, he licked his own mouth as they pulled back. “Is that enough of a proof for you, Mr Dark?"

“I'll take it as whatever you want me to take it, Mr Husky." The coyote grinned back.

As much as he wanted to kiss him again, he knew he couldn't do that. And it looked like Mr Dark knew that, too. They were prisoners of lust, separated by the very thing into which they wanted to be consumed.

The coyote moved his hands up, then down again. This time, he shifted even closer, wanting to sit on his lap. He couldn't give in to the temptations, though, not till the coyote allowed him and pulled him closer.

It was sweet torture, watching as lust danced in front of them while being pinned by the chains of self-control.

“I have to say, I'm more than entertained, Mr Husky. Am I entertaining you now instead?"

“Why not? We can entertain each other, Mr Dark."

This was more than enough.

Anyway NEC stands for National Electricity Company.